Ibrahim Hananu or Ibrahim Hanano (1869–1935) ( ar, إبراهيم هنانو, Ibrāhīm Hanānū) was an Ottoman municipal official and later a leader of a

revolt Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

against the French presence in northern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. He was a member of a notable landholding family of Kurdish origin in northern Syria.

Early life and education

Hananu was born to a wealthy family in Kafr Takharim and raised in Aleppo. There is dispute on his birth date: one source mentions he was born in 1879, while another mentions he was born in 1869. He studied at the Imperial High School in Aleppo, and continued his studies at the Ottoman Law Academy of the prestigious Mülkiye school in Constantinople. As a student, he joined the Committee of Union and Progress, the political organ that later took stage following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908.

Early career and views

Upon graduation, Hananu briefly taught at the military academy. Later, he joined the bureaucracy of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, only to retire and manage his estates. One Syrian source from the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

era indicates that having embraced nationalism when the Arab Revolt broke out in 1916, Hananu joined the Arab army of Faisal I and entered Aleppo with the Allies in 1918. Supposedly, he also joined the secret nationalist society al-Fatat, though there is no corroborating evidence for this. Along with many of the prominent merchants in Aleppo, Hananu became associated with the League of National Defense and the Arab Club of Aleppo.

The Hananu Revolt

Breaking out in the autumn of 1919 in the countryside surrounding Aleppo, when the French army had landed on the Syrian coast and was preparing to occupy all of Syria, Hananu launched his revolt, bringing

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

Idlib ar, إدلبي, Idlibi , coordinates = , elevation_m = 500 , area_code = 23 , geocode = C3871 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info ...

and

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

into a coordinated campaign against French forces. Hananu was responsible for the disarmament of many French troops, the destruction of railroads and telegraph lines, the sabotage of tanks, and the foiling of French attacks on Aleppo. On July 23, 1920, when the French army successfully attacked Aleppo, Hananu was forced to retreat back to his village of Kafr Takharim Nahiyah and began to reorganize the revolt with Najeeb Oweid. The rebels decided to form a civilian government based in Armanaz, and sent Hananu to Turkey as a representative of the new civilian government to request for aid in fighting against the French. He received aid from the Turkish nationalist movement of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

, which was battling the French army of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

for control of

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...

and southern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. With the withdrawal of Turkish military assistance following the signing of the

Franklin-Bouillon Agreement The Ankara Agreement (1921) (or the Accord of Ankara; Franklin-Bouillon Agreement; Franco-Turkish Agreement of Ankara, Turkish: ''Ankara Anlaşması'' French: Traité d'Ankara) was signed on 20 October 1921"Ankara, Treaty of" in ''The New Encyc ...

in October 1921, Hananu and his men could no longer sustain a revolt, and their struggle collapsed. Despite the failure of the revolt, the organization of the northern areas of Syria with Turkish help has been interpreted as a prototype for self-government that Hananu and other Syrians built upon in later years.

Trial

In 1922 Ibrahim Hananu was arrested and presented to the French military criminal court on charges of criminal acts. The first sessions of the court was on 15 March 1922 . One of the best lawyers at that time, Fathallah Saqqal defended Hananu, advocated for Hananu's innocence, and argued that Hananu was a political opponent not a criminal. On 25 March 1922 the French Attorney General requested the execution of Hananu, and he said "if Hananu has seven heads I will cut them all", but the French judge ultimately released Hananu following an agreement between Hananu and the French government.

Later years

Hananu was put under house arrest following the trial and his movements were monitored by the French intelligence. However, Hananu was released after the

Great Syrian Revolt The Great Syrian Revolt ( ar, الثورة السورية الكبرى) or Revolt of 1925 was a general uprising across the State of Syria and Greater Lebanon during the period of 1925 to 1927. The leading rebel forces comprised fighters of th ...

of 1925. Hananu went on to play an active role in the Syrian national movement. He was one of the founding fathers of the National Bloc which steered the course of the independence struggle in Syria until its achievement in 1946. He was a member of the National Bloc's permanent council and chief of its political bureau. In 1928, Hananu held office on the Constitutional Assembly that drafted the first republican constitution for Syria. In the 1930s, he affirmed his reputation as a hard-liner, refusing to negotiate with the French until they pledged complete unconditional independence for Syria.Philip Khoury, ''Syria and the French Mandate'', Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1987.

Assassination attempt

In September 1933, an individual named Nazi Al-Kousa shot Hananu in the legs in his village, Kafr Tkharem. Regarded as an assassination attempt, the shooter was sentenced to 10 years in jail. The French commissioner later pardoned Nazi al-Kousa.

Death

Hananu died in 1935 in Aleppo. His death was attributed to tuberculosis. The three-day mourning period began the day after with newspapers and magazines being published in a black cover. He is considered to be one of the most celebrated individuals in the resistance against the French Mandate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hananu, Ibrahim 1869 births 1935 deaths Kurdish people from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century Syrian politicians People from Aleppo Members of the People's Assembly of Syria National Bloc (Syria) politicians Ottoman Arab nationalists Syrian nationalists People of the Franco-Syrian War Syrian Kurdish people Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni